“I Owe Hypnobabies for My Easy and Comfortable Birthing”. (Mom gives great descriptions of using Hypnobabies tools during birthing)

Birth Story of Laura Eva
Born 1-7-11 at 1:09 p.m.
7 lb. 2 oz and 19 inches long

Thanks to Hypnobabies I had the birthing day that I visualized. If you don’t have the “Visualize Your Birth” CD, I highly suggest getting it. It is a powerful addition to the home study course. I started hypnobabies home study course at 31w and my birthing day was at 40w5d. I had enough time to do the maintenance program for about 4 weeks which helped solidify the course. I followed the program exactly with the exception of practicing the finger drop technique which I did about 3 times a day every other day. I looked forward to practicing every day. Since I have an 18 month old daughter, it gave me some “me” time to relax and focus on my pregnancy.

After my guess date, I listened to the affirmations cd not only at night, but also during the day to ease my anxiety. My Obgyn was going to talk about induction at the 41w appt. and I felt strongly about not getting induced. The affirmations instilled an inner peace. I felt confident that my baby would come on her birthday. I owe Hypnobabies for my easy and comfortable birthing.

A little history about my first birthing experience. I had my first daughter after being given a narcotic and an epidural at 5 cm. She came without complications, but I felt disconnected during her birth. I knew that I wanted to have a different birthing experience with my second daughter. Hypnobabies worked for me with this birth because I really believed in it and I chose to use the tools.

Here is my birth story. I had strong menstrual cramps on and off for about 3 days. I was excited that my body was preparing for my birthing day. The day before my birthing day I experienced a lot of anxiety and fear and I did 3 fear clearing and 2 deepening sessions back to back. I think that doing all those sessions helped me to prepare mentally for my birthing day. I remember afterwards feeling at peace, but drained. I went to bed that night listening to the affirmations cd and I fell asleep easily and slept soundly.

I awoke the next morning at 7. I got up with my 18 mo and we had some breakfast. I felt different than previous mornings. I felt that maybe this day would be my birthing day. My DH took care of our daughter while I listened to the birthing day affirmations lying in bed. By the end of the track I knew that today would be the day.

I was supposed to go to the zoo with my mom, sister and her kids so I called my mom to tell her the news. Since I wanted my mom and sister at the hospital with me, we decided that they wouldn’t go to the zoo. This was at 8 in the morning so about an hour after waking up. It all started to happen quickly after that. My DH called his mom since we had it arranged that she would take care of our daughter.

All I wanted to do was start listening to the Hypnobabies cds. I remember reading that it’s important to start listening early in order to become relaxed before the pw got more intense and I’m glad I did. My menstrual cramps started to feel more like pressure waves. My sister came over to help out. My DH finished packing the bags with the last minute items which we wrote on a list. I took a shower which felt great and I mentally prepared myself for my birthing day.

After I dressed I sat on the birthing ball and listened to the deepening track. My DH came in to check on me and I told him we need to call the hospital. At this point it was about 9:30 am. The hospital is 30 min away without traffic and since it was a Friday we decided to leave. The car ride was uncomfortable, but I was able to focus on listening to the Easy First Stage track.

From this point on until it was time to push, I had my headphones on listening to the track on my ipod. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the words on the cd. Kerry’s voice would relax me. Sometimes I would zone out and not even hear the words, it was enough to just hear her voice. By the time we parked and got checked into the hospital it was after 10. Time from this point on is fuzzy. On the walk to the hospital I would stop and lean on my DH. The pw were strong and it felt good to stop and turn my lightswitch to off.

After getting settled into a room the midwife checked me and I was 5-6 cm. We gave the nurse our birth plan and some brownies my DH made. The hospital staff followed it exactly. I chose Kaiser Walnut Creek because they are very supportive of natural and drug free birth and have 60% midwife assisted births. My nurse and midwife were wonderful. They were supportive of Hypnobabies.

I was standing when my water broke. It felt warm and good. I remember feeling a sense of relief and pressure. The nurse gave me an underwear with a pad to wear since the water kept flowing periodically almost the whole time. I was so happy that we got to the hospital in time because I knew that it would take a while to get settled and I would have to answer questions, get a saline lock and change. I wanted to have time to get deeply relaxed again in Hypnobabies before transformation.

I kept listening to “easy first stage” over and over again. I started listening to “deepening”, but switched back to “easy first stage”. I was either on my feet or on the birthing ball. A little after 12 the pressure waves started to change. Looking back it was transformation. The only reason I know the time is because my sister and mom arrived a little before that and they arrived at noon. At this point I kept repeating “open, open, open” and “peace”.

My DH was great support. He used the hand on the shoulder cue. He took out the Hypnobabies piece of paper that had the different laboring positions. We decided to do the squatting position where my DH is behind me while I squat and put my weight on his arms. In that position I felt my baby girl move down. It was a surprising feeling, but a welcoming feeling knowing she was on her way. I fluctuated between feeling warm and cold. Again I thank Hypnobabies for feeling calm during transformation. I feel like all the weeks of preparation paid off because all that practice was deep inside me and whenever I started to feel nervous I would automatically go back to feeling peaceful knowing everything is happening as it’s supposed to.

A little before 1 pm I told the midwife that I needed to push. My DH left me to put the “pushing baby out” cd. I was squatting with my hands on the bed. I felt the most intense need to push. It was an overwhelming feeling. I made grunting noises, which surprised me because I’m usually shy, but I just let my body do what it felt like doing. The midwife asked me if I could get on the bed and I told her I couldn’t move. I did however make it onto the bed with help between the next pressure wave. I was on all fours sideways on the bed. I pushed for total of 4 minutes. I was able to touch my baby girl’s head as it crowned.

I felt the greatest sense of relief as I pushed her body out. She just slipped out just like the cd described. I didn’t tear. It was the most incredible feeling I ever felt. It was amazing. I then turned around and sat on the bed as I took my hospital gown off and my DH laid our baby girl on my chest. I held her close and felt unconditional love. She was beautiful. I still remember her looking up at me in those first moments of life outside of me. It was better than I could imagine. All the practice was worth it for that one moment. I felt like I’ve never felt before; empowered, like no matter what, I can take care of her.

She latched on right away and she nursed for an hour. The nursing helped my placenta come out, but it took half an hour. The nurse and midwife waited patiently. The staff left us alone to bond with our baby girl for another hour. It was wonderful. My birthing day was a total of 4 1/2 hours. I feel that it progressed so quickly because I was able to stay calm and peaceful and embraced what my body was doing.

Thank you Hypnobabies! Thank you Kerry Tuschhoff!

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Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your beautiful birth story! It’s a great example for other mom’s preparing for their births with Hypnobabies. They can see how the tools and techniques might be used in practice!